- May 30, 2007
- 10,902
- 10
- 42,965
Consumers have been patiently waiting for Samsung to introduce a consumer version of an M.2 3.0 x 4 NVMe ssd with full factory warranty. It is going to happen.
Samsung originally introduced the XP941 and then two versions of the SM951. All three models were OEM models designed explicitly for installation in computers sold by companies like Dell, HP, Lenovo, and others. They were never meant to be purchased by consumers. Since they were OEM versions there was no standard Samsung manufacturers warranty. Despite the OEM designation and lack of a warranty consumers still managed to purchase those drives thanks to a few online vendors who were willing to sell them to consumers. Two or three of the vendors also indicated they would honor what normally would have been a 3 year warranty and they shipped the ssd's world wide.
Earlier this year during an interview a Samsung corporate vice president that was in charge of flash memory or ssd's made a comment about consumers purchasing the OEM ssd's when a retail version was in development. The same vice president also casually mentioned that Samsung had ssd's in the laboratory that had already lasted the equivalent of 28 years of use. Then everything went quiet.
Last month Samsung released several business enterprise ssd's. Some web sites reported that one of the enterprise ssd's would replace the SM951. That information turned out to be incorrect so I started contacting my sources. I received confirmation from several sources that there would be a new retail model this month. However, technical information was still unavailable.
On the 4th of September I discovered a French vendor that published a web page with the Samsung 950 Pro ssd. The page was published just 6 minutes before I found it. Here is the link to that page:
http://www.pc21.fr/fiche/mz-v5p256bw-ssd-950-pro-256-go-nvme-i1404310.html
Unfortunately there were no technical specifications, no images, and no inventory available.
On the 16th of September I found a few more French vendors listing the Samsung 950 Pro. Like the first one the vendors had no ssd's in stock and there were no photos or technical specifications. However, there was one vendor that had a little more information regarding availability and shipping. Here is a link to that web page:
http://estock.fr/basketadd.php?partnumber=MZ-V5P256BW&eStockSID=36ac3c51275f0e6ea0410bb865909378
That page indicates the 950 Pro would be available in 8 to 12 days. I'm fairly certain the page was published on the 16th of September. Adding 8 to 12 days would mean availability sometime between the 24th and 28th of September.
I sent a customer inquiry to an Australian vendor who replied a shipment of the Samsung 950 Pro NVMe ssd is expected to arrive before the end of the month. In addition two different sources in the USA confirmed the 950 Pro exists and that the ssd would be available soon. There was no mention of a release date for the USA.
Two days ago I contacted a customer service representative at Newegg and asked about the Samsung 950 Pro. The representative stated that the Newegg representatives were not permitted to discuss future products. However, the rep provided a link to a newegg web page that had a form for suggesting new products. I filled out and submitted it. The first reply was simply an automatic message acknowledging receipt of the form. Next I received a message from the customer service department saying my request was forwarded to a department responsible for future products. This morning I received a third message. Here is the exact reply:
"As to your request as below, I got the feedback from our product management department: the new one should be the retail version, it is not available in US but other country for now, US will be coming soon. Once it is available, we will post it online. "
That is definitely good news despite the fact that the 950 Pro will be available in Europe and Australia before North America.
I can understand that a few consumers in the USA might be a little frustrated that the 950 Pro will probably be available in Europe and Australia before it is available in the USA. However, that should not be a problem. One could purchase the ssd from a vendor in another country. RamCity is an Austrailian vendor that sells the XP941 and SM951 OEM ssd's. The company sells the drives on their own web site, on Amazon.com, and on ebay.com. The prices are competative and the company ships world wide. Best of all, RamCity is one of only a very few vendors that were willing to honor a 3 year warranty for the Samsung OEM ssd's. I would not be surprised if RamCity had the 950 Pro before Newegg.
Samsung originally introduced the XP941 and then two versions of the SM951. All three models were OEM models designed explicitly for installation in computers sold by companies like Dell, HP, Lenovo, and others. They were never meant to be purchased by consumers. Since they were OEM versions there was no standard Samsung manufacturers warranty. Despite the OEM designation and lack of a warranty consumers still managed to purchase those drives thanks to a few online vendors who were willing to sell them to consumers. Two or three of the vendors also indicated they would honor what normally would have been a 3 year warranty and they shipped the ssd's world wide.
Earlier this year during an interview a Samsung corporate vice president that was in charge of flash memory or ssd's made a comment about consumers purchasing the OEM ssd's when a retail version was in development. The same vice president also casually mentioned that Samsung had ssd's in the laboratory that had already lasted the equivalent of 28 years of use. Then everything went quiet.
Last month Samsung released several business enterprise ssd's. Some web sites reported that one of the enterprise ssd's would replace the SM951. That information turned out to be incorrect so I started contacting my sources. I received confirmation from several sources that there would be a new retail model this month. However, technical information was still unavailable.
On the 4th of September I discovered a French vendor that published a web page with the Samsung 950 Pro ssd. The page was published just 6 minutes before I found it. Here is the link to that page:
http://www.pc21.fr/fiche/mz-v5p256bw-ssd-950-pro-256-go-nvme-i1404310.html
Unfortunately there were no technical specifications, no images, and no inventory available.
On the 16th of September I found a few more French vendors listing the Samsung 950 Pro. Like the first one the vendors had no ssd's in stock and there were no photos or technical specifications. However, there was one vendor that had a little more information regarding availability and shipping. Here is a link to that web page:
http://estock.fr/basketadd.php?partnumber=MZ-V5P256BW&eStockSID=36ac3c51275f0e6ea0410bb865909378
That page indicates the 950 Pro would be available in 8 to 12 days. I'm fairly certain the page was published on the 16th of September. Adding 8 to 12 days would mean availability sometime between the 24th and 28th of September.
I sent a customer inquiry to an Australian vendor who replied a shipment of the Samsung 950 Pro NVMe ssd is expected to arrive before the end of the month. In addition two different sources in the USA confirmed the 950 Pro exists and that the ssd would be available soon. There was no mention of a release date for the USA.
Two days ago I contacted a customer service representative at Newegg and asked about the Samsung 950 Pro. The representative stated that the Newegg representatives were not permitted to discuss future products. However, the rep provided a link to a newegg web page that had a form for suggesting new products. I filled out and submitted it. The first reply was simply an automatic message acknowledging receipt of the form. Next I received a message from the customer service department saying my request was forwarded to a department responsible for future products. This morning I received a third message. Here is the exact reply:
"As to your request as below, I got the feedback from our product management department: the new one should be the retail version, it is not available in US but other country for now, US will be coming soon. Once it is available, we will post it online. "
That is definitely good news despite the fact that the 950 Pro will be available in Europe and Australia before North America.
I can understand that a few consumers in the USA might be a little frustrated that the 950 Pro will probably be available in Europe and Australia before it is available in the USA. However, that should not be a problem. One could purchase the ssd from a vendor in another country. RamCity is an Austrailian vendor that sells the XP941 and SM951 OEM ssd's. The company sells the drives on their own web site, on Amazon.com, and on ebay.com. The prices are competative and the company ships world wide. Best of all, RamCity is one of only a very few vendors that were willing to honor a 3 year warranty for the Samsung OEM ssd's. I would not be surprised if RamCity had the 950 Pro before Newegg.
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